Car generator drive



March 20, 1934. MORSE 1 1,951,624

CAR GENERATOR DRIVE Filed Oct. 5, 1932 4 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. FH/Y/VKL ZYURSE ATTORNEYS.

March 20, 1934.

F. L. MORSE CAR GENERATOR DRIVE Filed Oct. 5, 1932 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN VEN TOR.

FMNKLMORSE A TTORN E YS.

March 20, 1934. F. 1.. MORSE 1,951,624

CAR GENERATOR DRIVE Filed Oct. 5, 1932 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 IN VEN TOR. 13R flZV'KL M01155 A TTORNEYS.

March 20, 1934.

F. L. MORSE CAR GENERATOR DRIVE Filed Oct. 5, 1952 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 IN VEN TOR.

FRANK L 4MORSE A TTORNEYS.

for clampingithe rods to the axle;

Patented Mar. 20, 1934 UNITED (STATES PATENT OFFICE Application October 5,

8 Claims.

'Ihisinvention relates to means for transmitting mechanical power from an axle or drive shaft having a large amount of longitudinal motion, lateralmotio'n, andangular displacement,

5 to a relatively fixed driven shaft by means of a i belt or gearing transmission system whose elements are held in strict alignment. It is par- 'ticularlyapplicable to electric generators for rail- Way cars, which are ordinarily driven by means of a belt from a pulley mounted on the axle of "the car truck; while the generator is mounted on the underside of the car body. The ordinary belt drives have'given trouble due to the fact that the axle takes up various positions relative tothe car body when running and going around curves, so that the belts frequently jump the pulleys and are subject to excessive wear due to running out of line.

In the present invention, I mount the driving pulley on the axle by means of slightly flexible rods whichipermit extended-movement of the 'pulley alongthe axle, thru the use of sliding or roller elements betweenthe rods and the pulley. Thedriving pulley, being thus free to adjustitself relative tothe axle, can be held inline with the driven pulley by any suitable means attached tothe car body. I

"Referring now to thedrawings forming part of this application:

Fig 1 is a'vertical' elevation, partly in section, along the-line of the axle, showing "the manner 'of mountingthe driving rods;

FFig. 2 is a transverse elevation and section "thru theline 2-2 of Fig. 1,showing the means Fig. 3 is a transverse elevation and section showing thedriving pulley and the means for mounting it to "the car frame, with details of the: driving rollers on the rods;

Fig. 4 is a, section along the line 4-4 of Fig.

3 showing the means for guiding the drive pulley and for maintaining it against lateral displacement;

Fig. 5 is a general view in side elevation, partly '"in section, showing the invention as applied to drive an electric generator from the axle of a railway car;

Fig. 6 is an end elevation of a modified form in which the rods pass thru sliding friction bearings provided with a'lubricating system;

Fig. 7 is a transverse elevation and section "of asplit pulley 'of'the pressed metal type preferablyused "with'the form shown in Fig; 6;

Fig? 8 is a detail showing another form of oil 1932, Serial No. 636,322

seal which may be used with the modification shown in Figs. 6 and '7;

Fig. 9 is an elevation ofone of the,bushing housings and oil seals, as indicated by :theJine 99 of Fig. 6; 5.60

Fig. 10 is a cross-section. on the line.l10:10-of Fig. 6 showing the lateral bearing shoes.;which maintain the drive pulley in alignment withwthe car body and the driven pulley;

Fig. 11 is a cross-section along the line ,ofitherflli axle, showing a V-helt drive pulley,:with.friction bushings for the drive rods;

Fig. 1215. an end elevation and section onthe line l2l2 of Fig. 11;

FigrlS is a cross-section thru..the. V-.-pulley170. rim on the line 13-13 of Fig. 12;

Fig. 14 is a detail cross-sectionon axlarger scaleof the sliding bushing and rod lubricating system; and I Fig. 15 is a lateral elevation of one formlof-l'lfi clamping means bywhich the rods are. clamped to the axle.

Similar reference numerals refer to. similar parts throughout the various views.

In the ordinary railway car design1.using;;sixJ-Li wheel trucks, the electric generatonwhichiszused for lighting, refrigeration, etc., is drivenby aq-belt from a pulley on the third or rear axlerofgthe truck. .W'henthe car roundsla curve this.third or rear axle swings to the right or leftandtendsliSfi to throw the belt out of alignment. One .of-the objects of the present invention isitoaovercome this difficulty, and referring now to Fig.1 1, and Fig; 2, there is shown the car axle. I on which are clamped the flanges 2 mounted on thespacingr fifl tube 3. The flanges 2 carry rubber bushings? supporting thedriving rods 4, which are.

ciently long to allowfor'the transverseswinguof the truck, and SllfilClBIllJlYfiSXlbk to yieldislightly under any binding or twisting strains. .3The'driV-lil95 iing rods 4 are however sufiioiently strong andlrigid to be adequate to transmit the full drivingtorque from the axle lto the driving pulleysfi. The flanges 2, spacing tube 3 and driving rods? 4,: all

being clamped to'the axle 1, all rotate as a unit fl when the axle revolves. If desired;therods 4, while substantially straight, may be bent slightly outward on a curve to relieve any binding action when the pulley 6 assumes a diagonal position, especially when near the supporting flanges.

The driving pulley 6 is mounted-in a movable -frame 7 which is rigidly held against transverse motion'relative-to the car body so thatthe belt is always maintained in definite alignment" with r the driven pulley 8. The general arrangement is 5110 shown in Fig. 5, and in greater detail in Figs. 3 and 4. In these figures, the main beams of the car body are indicated by the reference numerals 10. A pivot bearing 11 is attached to the car beams 10 and pivotally supports a link 12, which in turn carries in a fork 13 at its lower end the pulley guide frame '7. This guide frame '7 is pivotally mounted on the thru bolt 14, and consists of two parts bolted together by the bolts 15. The driving pulley 6 (see Figs. 1 and 4) is rotatably mounted between the two sides of the frame 7, and runs between suitable bushings 16 as shown in Fig. 4.

The transverse driving rods 4 are clamped to the axle and extend thru openings in the driving pulley 6, these openings being provided with grooved rollers 18 whose axes extend at right angles to the rods 4 and in the plane of the pulley 6. The rollers 18 are preferably provided with anti-friction bearings, and the driving rods 4 extend thru the grooves of the rollers 13. The grooves of the rollers 18 are sufliciently deep, that is, they have sufficiently high side flanges, so that the rods 4, as they rotate with the axle 1, will transmit the rotating driving force to the pulley 6, while'at the same time the rollers 18 permit the rods 4 to slide freely longitudinally thru the pulley 6, as the truck shifts from side to side. The link 12 permits the frame '7 to adjust itself to the axle. The frame 7 is in general supported by the rods 4, but is held from sideways motions by the link 12.

A V-belt 20 is shown running from the driving pulley 6 to the driven pulley 8 of the electric generator 21, which may be supported in the usual manner from the car beams 10.

Another and somewhat simpler form is shown in Figs. 6, '7, 8, 9 and 10. This uses a pressed steel split pulley 6', fixed guide shoes 12 in place of the linkage 12, and driving holes bushed with lubricated bearing material 18' to receive the drive rods 4.

Referring now more in detail to Figs. 6 to 10 inclusive, the driving pulley 6 is split for mounting, is bolted together by the bolts as shown in Fig. 6, and the pulley face is provided with wide side flanges 26, which are utilized as bearing faces to take the end thrust. The driving pulley 6' is held in a definite transverse position or alignment with the car body by means of the fixed arms 2'? which are bolted to the car beams 10 and carry thrust shoes 12 (as shown in Fig. 6 and Fig. '7, and in cross-section in Fig. 10), which bear against the sides of the pulley 6. The driving pulley 6' is thus held in definite alignment with the driven pulley of the electric generator, but aside from this transverse guidance the driving pulley 6' is free to move around in the driving plane to adjust itself to any movement of the axle.

The pulley 6 is driven by the rods 4 which are clamped to the axle as previously described, an alternative form of clamping means 2 being illustrated in Fig. 15. The rods 4 pass through lubricated bushings 18' which are carried in oil tight housings 30. These housings are provided with oil seals 31 of the usual construction, generally of felt or leather, and the bushings 18' are drilled at 31' for lubrication. The oil casings or reservoirs 30 are connected by the tubing 32 so as to equalize the oil flow. The drive rods 4 play freely back and forth thru the bushings 18', rubbing on the lubricated surfaces as the truck swings in rounding a curve of the track.

A somewhat similar modification is shown in Figs. 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15. This is for a V-belt, as in Figs. 1 to 4, but has the lubricated drive rod bushings as in Figs. 6 to 9 inclusive. Instead of external oil pipes 32, however, the pulley 6" is provided with an annular internal oil hole 32' which runs from one bushing to another, the oil passing around each bushing by means of an annular groove in the seat (see Fig. 14)

With the coming of electrical refrigeration and air conditioning for railway cars, one of the proble-. s is to increase the output of the generators. Without increasing the size of the generator, this added output can only be obtained by increasing the speed; that is, by increasing the diameter of the driving pulley. When the driving pulley is maintained in a definite transverse position as above described, it may be extended up between the beams of the car body, which is not possible where the belt has transverse play as in the ordinary generator drive.

While in the foregoing I have described certain specific examples, it will be understood that they are merely for the purpose of illustration to make clear the principles of the invention, which is not limited to the particular forms shown, but is susceptible to various modifications and adaptations in different installations as will be apparent to those skilled in the art, without departing from the scope of the invention as stated in the following claims:

1. In a power transmission, the combination of an axle, a body mounted to have movement relative to said axle, a driven pulley mounted on said body, a frame mounted in definite alignment with said driven pulley, a driving pulley main-- tained in alignment with said driven pulley by said frame, said driving pulley being free to move in the driving plane with the movements of the axle, rods secured to said axle to rotate therewith and extending in driving relation thru the driving pulley and along the direction of the axle a sufficient distance to allow the axle to swing on a curve, said rods being sufficiently flexible to maintain a driving relation with the driving pulley when in a diagonal position as when rounding a curve.

2. In a power transmission, the combination of an axle, a body mounted to have movement relative to said axle, a driven pulley mounted on said body, a frame mounted in definite alignment with said driven pulley, a driving pulley maintained in alignment with said driven pulley by said frame, said driving pulley being free to move in the driving plane with the movements of the axle, rods secured to said axle to rotate therewith and extending in driving relation thru said driving pulley and along the direction of the axle a sufficient distance to allow the axle to swing on a curve, and radially fixed bearing means mounted in the driving pulley to receive the driving force of the rods, said rods being suificiently flexible to maintain a driving relation with the driving pulley when in a diagonal position as when rounding a curve.

3. In a power transmission, the combination of a body, a driven pulley carried by said body, an axle adapted to take up various angular and transverse positions relative to the body, flexible driving rods extending in the general direction of the axle and mounted to rotate therewith, a driving pulleysupported by said rods and receiving driving torque therefrom while free to assume various positions longitudinally along said rods, and means carried by said body for maintaining the driving pulley in alignment with the driven pulley.

4. In a power transmission, the combination of an axle, spaced clamping means secured to said axle, driving rods extending between said clamping means substantially parallel to said axle and secured at their ends to said clamping means so as to rotate with the axle, a driving pulley carried on said rods and receiving driving torque therefrom, said driving pulley being free- 1y movable longitudinally relative to said rods, said rods being sufficiently flexible to maintain a driving relation with the driving pulley when in a diagonal position as when roundng a curve, and means for controlling the plane of rotation of the driving pulley.

5. In a power transmission, the combination of an axle, spaced clamping means secured to said axle, driving rods extending between said clamping means substantially parallel to the axle and secured at their ends to the clamping means so as to rotate with the axle, a driving pulley carried on said rods and receiving driving torque therefrom, said driving pulley being freely movable longitudinally relative to said rods, radially fixed bearing means mounted in the pulley to receive the driving thrust and longitudinal motion of the rods, said rods being sufiiciently flexible to maintain a driving relation with the driving pulley when in a diagonal position as when rounding a curve, and means for controlling the plane of rotation of said driving pulley.

6. In a power transmission, the combination of an axle, spaced clamping means secured to said axle, driving rods extending between the clamping means substantially parallel to the axle and secured at their ends to the clamping means so as to rotate with the axle, a driving pulley carried on said rods and receiving driving torque therefrom, said driving pulley being freely movable longitudinally relative to said rods, radially fixed bearing means mounted in said pulley to receive the driving thrust and longitudinal motion of the rods, said rods being sufliciently flexible to maintain a driving relation with the driving pulley when in a diagonal position as when rounding a curve, lubricating reservoirs connected to the bearing means and rotatable with the pulley, and means for controlling the plane of rotation of the driving pulley.

7. In a power transmission, the combination of an axle, spaced clamping means secured to said axle, driving rods extending between the clamping means substantially parallel to the axle and secured at their ends to the clamping means so as to rotate with the axle, a driving pulley carried on said rods and receiving driving torque therefrom, said driving pulley being freely movable longitudinally relative to the rods, radially fixed bearing means mounted in said pulley to receive the driving thrust and longitudinal motion of the rods, said rods being sufliciently flexible to maintain a driving relation with the driving pulley when in a diagonal position as when rounding a curve, said pulley having end thrust faces on its sides, and means engaging the end thrust faces for maintaining the plane of rotation of said pulley.

8. In a power transmission, the combination of an axle, spaced clamping means secured to said axle, driving rods extending between the clamping means substantially parallel to the axle and secured at their ends to the clamping means so as to rotate with the axle, a driving pulley carried on said rods and receiving driving torque therefrom, said driving pulley being freely movable longitudinally relative to said rods, radially fixed bearing means mounted in the pulley to receive the driving thrust and longitudinal motion of the rods, said rods being sufiiciently flexible to maintain a driving relation with the driving pulley when in a diagonal position as when rounding a curve, lubricating reservoirs connected to the bearing means and rotatable with the pulley, said pulley having end thrust faces, and means engaging the end thrust faces for maintaining the plane of rotation of the pulley.

FRANK L. MORSE. 

